1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to the area of solar energy systems. In particular, the present invention is related to thermally driven cooling systems based on solar energy, wherein the thermally driven cooling systems can be readily used in solar air conditioning and refrigeration.
2. The Background of Related Art
Faced with the reality of scarce oil resources, there is a resurgence of interest in solar energy. Compared to the old forms of depletable energy (coal, oil, nuclear), solar energy offers a clean renewable form of energy. Various solar systems have been designed to capture the solar energy and put the energy in different applications. One exemplary solar system is to heat water by solar energy.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art solar system 100 that includes a solar batch heater 102, a solar collector 104, a first pump 106, a second pump 108 and a water storage tank 110. The solar batch heater 102, commercially available or to be readily made, absorbs solar energy and heats up a water flow going through. The first pump 106 is provided to drive a type of liquid (e.g., antifreeze) through the solar batch heater 102 and subsequently heat water stored in the water storage tank 110. While cold water may be replenished into the water storage tank 110 as the heated water is pumped out for use by the second pump 108, the first pump 106 circulates the liquid through the solar batch heater 102 to be heated. The solar collector 102 is provided to generate heat from the solar energy, and can be optionally coupled to a photovolvaic energy collector to provide electricity. Both of the first pump 106 and the second pump 108 may be driven by the power from the photovolvaic energy collector or energized by regular household electricity.
FIG. 1 shows a water heating system without using any external electricity and has been proven fairly efficient. In daily life, there are many other appliances that may be powered by solar energy, for example, air conditioning and refrigerators, both are traditionally powered by electricity. The present invention is to provide a cooling system without using any external electricity that may be readily used to power air conditioning and refrigeration entirely using solar energy.